The Vampire Hunt
by commanderkaufman
Summary: Several murders have been reported in the Trost area, all having one thing in common. The victims were drained of all their blood. The 104th trainee corps is sent to investigate as their supperiors see this as a perfect way to show them military police work. But what if the killer lurks amongst their lines? A mistery story T for death and violence. I don't own SnK or the caracters.
1. Prologue

**Hey! This is my first fan fiction. As you will see, it's about a misterious vampire hiding amongst the 104th trainees. And please excuse out any grammar or spelling mistakes as English isn't my first language**

A dark, cloudy night lay upon Vohnburg, a town in the southern territory of Wall Rose, as a lonely figure was walking home after a hard day's work. His shift had turned out longer than anticipated and all he wanted to do now was to get some sleep.

The street was empty. Everybody else was already at home, sleeping. It was quiet. The worker loved such silence, as the town tended to get loud and busy during the day due to it being located on the banks of the river.

As the man turned into a back alley he noticed a dark figure at the other end of it. 'Probably another late night worker,' he thought as he continued walking.

But then it hit him. 'This is merely a kid. What is he doing out here all alone?'

The figure started walking towards him. As it passed a street light the worker noticed it was wearing a trainee couat with a hood hiding its face.

"What do you want?" the worker asked as the figure stopped right in front of him.

The figured stared at him from the shade of the hood not answering the question.

After a minute of silence the worker decided not to bother himself with this and started to walk past the stranger. But as he tried to pass the misterious kid he felt a hand grab his wrist.

"Wha-?" he tried to yell but was thrown to the ground before he knew what was happening.

The figure climbed on him, pinning him down whit it's right hand while it covered the worker's mouth whit it's left.

"I am sorry for this," the figure said.

Before the worker could even wonder what that meant he felt sharp and agonising pain on his neck.

**So here ends the short prologue. As thi is my first fan fic a critique is more than welcome.**


	2. Chapter 1: The murder of a worker

**Here it is, the first chapter. I sincerely hope you like it.**

**Again I would like to appologise for any grammar or spelling mistakes. English isn't my mother's thongue.**

"ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS, GET UP!"

Eren groaned. 'Shit! Is it morning already?' He jumped out of bed.

"WE'LL START THIS LOVELY DAY WITH A 5 KILOMETER RUN!"

'Is it just me or is Shadis yelling louder today?' Armin thought, getting up quickly.

"LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT ... COME ON, MY GRANDMOTHER RUNS FASTER AND SHE'S DEAD!"

The cadets of the 104th trainee corps started every day like this: as soon as the first light of day hit the camp the instructors would throw them out of bed for the 'morning exercise'.

Eren, as per usual, was somewhere in the middle of the line of running teens, still half asleep. Looking around he could see that his comrades were still a bit dizzy as well, but they kept on running in the fear of having to skip breakfast. They had seen it happen to Armin on the first day and sure as hell didn't want to expirience it.

After the run they would usually wait for the instructions from Shadis, usually informing them on the day's training, before storming to the mess hall.

"YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES FOR BREAKFAST. THEN ASSEMBLE ON THE TRINING GROUNDS."

'Wait, that's all?' Armin wondered as he grabed his meal.

"What do you think we're doing today?" Eren asked Armin who had just joined him and Mikasa at the table.

"Must be something special, he would have told us before breakfas otherwise."

"We should eat now, we'll learn soon enough," Mikasa said calmly, not showing that she was as curious of the subject as they were.

The trainees gathered on the training grounds, awaiting the instructor's arrival.

"Alright, we have something special for you today," instructor Shadis announced.

"There has been a homocide in the nearby town of Vohnburg."

A few gasps were heard from the ranks of the trainees, Shadis ignoring them.

"As those of you ranked top ten of the class will be able to join the Military Police I believe that it's best if you learn more about their work. That is why you are going to assist them in the investigation."

'Police work huh? Sounds good,' several trainees, including of course Jean, thought.

However, a certain trainee would disagree with them.

'I thought we would be learning to fight titans here, not to fight the monsters inside the walls that resemble humans,' Eren thought but knew better and kept the thought to himself.

And thus they left the camp for the crime scene.

The place was swarming with the MPs, making it obvious that they weren't used to such crimes. They usually dealt with thievery. Homocides were a very rare occurence.

But even when they happened they weren't this brutal.

"The body is completely dry."

"No blood anywhere, must have been drained away."

Probably through the neck."

The trainees tried to see the body past the MPs in estigating it.

They could see a body as white as snow. It's eyes were screaming in terror.

"A bite? What sick bastard did this?" said one of the investigators.

Someone threw up in behind Mikasa. She couldn't figure out who it was but instead noticed that Eren had turned pale and was dizzily backing away.

'Poor Eren. This disgusts him more than it disgusts me!'

"His name was Mort Schmidt, a local factory worker. He was returning home from his evening shift, that is around 10 pm. He never reached home. Around 3 am his body was discovered by a guard who was patrolling the streets. He immediately reported to the Military Police."

"Ok, trainees, we'll search the crime scene for any clues we can find. You go around the neighbourhood to see if nyone saw anything."

"Yes, sir!"

In the end they couldn't find any witnesses.

Not that they expected any. The murder happened in the middle of the night; everyone would be rather asleep or too drunk to remember anything.

As Mikasa was walking back to the group she couldn't help but feel disappointed. How will they find the killer whitout any clues at all?

Then she heard a voice from behind: "The one who did this wasn't human."

She turned around to see an old lady standing in the corner of a narrow alley.

"Excuse me?"

"No human, no matter how cruel, would do this," the old lady spoke again as she started to back away into the shadows of the alley.

"Wait!" Mikasa shouted and ran after her.

However the misterious lady had already disappeared.

**End of chapter one ...**


	3. Chapter 2: A second kill

In the end they couldn't find anything that could lead them to the killer.

Life of the 104th trainees returned to it's usual ways as the case was closed unresolved.

During the day they would endure a harsh training, preparing themselves for life in the army.

At night they would usually sleep, too tired to do anything.

However there were nights when you could hear people sneaking out, most likely to gaze at the night sky, contemplate life and the horrors in this world.

They would graduate soon. Most of them would then have to spend their days at the front line, giving their lives for what remained of humanity.

What remained of humanity? After the murder none of the trainees realy knew. How can humanity defeat the monsters outside the walls while monsters equally as violent reside within?

Such questions went through the trainees' heads.

And so, two weeks after the murder, the trainees vowed to catch the monster inside the walls.

But how? the murderer left no traces.

Eren did not usually leave his bed at night from the fear of getting caught by one of the instructors. However, contemplating such questions was hard in the middle of a dorm full of snoring teens.

So this night he quietly left the bed, probably hoping to think of something they may had missed.

The following morning Shadis told them to assemble on the training grounds.

"There has been another murder."

The trainees gasped. Could it have been the same person that did it?

Immediately they left for the crime scene to discover the body was drained of all blood through a bite on it's neck.

Most likely the work of the same person.

An old lady was watching from the shadows.

"Not human ..."

**Ok, this was a bit shorter but I hpe you liked it.**


	4. Chapter 3: The investigation begins

'A bite to the left side of the neck, just like the last one,' Armin thought while examining the body for the fifth or sixth time. It had been taken to the morgue by now.

The morgue ... It looked more like a dungeon without the cells. It was rather dark with only one torch lighting the chamber up. The chamber itself was quite small, smaller than the barracks where the trainees had spent the past three years. The morgue was also filthy and damp and it looked as if no one ever came here. The Military Police never entered to examine the bodies thoroughly. But who could blame. A foul stench warning you of the death in here could be smelled from the outside.

'You'd think they'd have more respect for the dead than that'

Armin remembered how it felt when he entered. He couldn't believe something could ever smell so bad. He almost threw up and he would have had the guards at the front door not warned him.

The same guards that wouldn't let him in at first. Had the Trainees not convinced instructor Keith Shadis to let them participate in the investigation they would have had to stay back at the trainee camp and just wait for the next murder to happen.

...

"What is it, trainee Arlert?"

"Well, instructor Shadis sir, me and the rest of the trainees are rather truobled by the past events. A homocide isn't something that one should take lightly, especially if it's this brutal."

Armin was in the instructor's office. The 104th trainees had chosen him to convince the instructor to let them help with the investigation of the recent murders.

Instructor Shadis stood up from his chair lifting his eyes from thr files on his desk to look at Armin. Well, it was more like a terrifying gaze. The evening darkness made him even more intimidating than he already was.

'Geez,' Armin thought, 'no woder no one wanted to confront him'

When he was chosen to speak on the behalf of all the trainees he was scared. What would he say, how should he act to convince the instructor. However everyoune assured him that he was the best man for the job.

So here he was, trying to keep calm.

"Well, trainee Arlert? Did a cat bite your thongue?"

"We all saw the similarities between the latest murder and the one two weeks ago. I mean the state in which the bodies were found, the bite marks, the lack of blood, not to mention the lack of clues. I believe we might have a serial killer on our hands, a clever one at that. And I don't believe he or she is ready to stop just yet."

Instructor Shadis torned around to gaze out the window, observing the last light of the day over the western sky, painting it as red as blood. Blood ...

"Continue."

"The Military Police want to close the case as they were unable to get any leads. They don't even want to bolster the security, explaining that it is an isolated case that won't happen again."

The instructor turned around to look at the blonde trainee again. 'Those slackers at the MP,' he thought, 'I guess some things just never change.'

"We, the trainees, however believe that this might happen again unless we do something about it."

There was a short pause as Armin swallowed. 'I hope he approves. If he doesn't he'll be pissed off and I'll be the one to pay for it'

"So we were wondering if you would approve of us doing a private investigation."

There was a moment of silence. The instructor lifted his eyebrow making his expression even creepier. Armin felt sweat soak his uniform fearing he had failed.

However, as unexpected as it may had been, a smile formed on the Instructor's face.

If anyone ever told Armin he would see Instructor Shadis smile, he would have considered them crazy. Even now he was wondering if hev wasn't dreaming.

Breaking the silence instructor Shadis spoke somewhat happily: "So you and your comrades want toinvestigate the crime on your own?"

"Y-yes sir."

The instructor hummed, proud of the trainees. "Very well then! You'll go and find that killer. It will be a good experience for you, especially as some of you might join the police." 'And I hope those of you who will won't turn into a bunch of lazy asses sitting around all day long' "I'll take care that you get all the authority over the case. You'll work independently, you'll learn more that way. And you'll report to me every evening."

Widening his eyes Armin stared at his Instructor. 'He approves?'

"Go on, get some sleep, you'll leave for Vohnburg tomorrow morning."

...

Armin smiled at the memory. He really didn't expect Instructor Shadis to approve, let alone encourage them to do the investigation.

That was two days ago. It had taken them quite long to get a permit to enter the morgue. The Military Police wouldn't let them enter so they had to get one of the instructors to explain that it is a part of their training. And even then the Police were hesitant on letting them in, saying that they need to contact their commander to get his approval.

'They sure took their time,' Armin thought as he turned to the cadaver again. It was lying on half rotten wooden table that was likely older than the body itself. And that's saying something. The victim seemed to be in it's late forties.

'Arnold Kaufmann, 47, a successful merchant who arrived here the night prior to his death,' Armin thought. 'He was here to sell the goods he bought in the north.'

He turned back to the older body. The man who was killed two weeks ago. His body was still here. He had no family and that meant his body would stay here in the morgue for good. The Military Police wouldn't even bother to give him a proper burrial.

'Theese bites are weird. It seems the killer's teeth are strangely developed.'

'But they are no doubt the same person's bites' He thought as her turned back to the merchant's body.

'How did he suck the blood through that bite? And why? What kind of a sick bastard does this?'

Armin faced the door. It was getting late, he should head back to the inn.

...

Leaving the stench of the morgue behind Armin started walking down the town's main street. The Sun was setting and it was getting dark. People were walking home, some of them made their way to pubs to drink and talk about the latest events. The people were surprisingly calm considering the two murders that happened. It was probably the Military Police who told them that there is nothing to be afraid of.

Even though Armin was aware that panic wouldn't do any good he still believed that the people were a little too calm, too careless. They should at least had been advised to watch their backs at night.

Armin arrived to the inn where they settled. The instructors believed it would be best for them to stay close to the town should another murder happen.

Entering the dining room with three small tables on the ground floor he was greeted by his comrades. They were already eating dinner, some home-made stew. Armin sat down as Jean placed a plate in front of him.

"Found anything?" he asked.

"Not much," Armin retorted, "just one thing realy. Our killer has oversized canines."

"Excuse me?" Eren joined the conversation.

"I observed the bite marks carefully. The mark made by the canines was too deep."

Eren turned away, looking through the window. "Strange ..."

"Anyway, I think we should stay alert."

Mikasa stood up and walked over to them. "There's something else. Tgere was some old lady at the scene of both murders. She seemed to know somethinhg."

Armin sighed as he emptied his plate. "We'll look into that too. Anyway, who's on patrol tonight?"

"Me and Bert." Reiner answered as he and Bert were alredy leaving the inn.

Armin looked at the two with a concerned look in his eyes. "Be careful."

It was getting dark and most of the trainees had alredy gone to bed. In the dining hall stayed only Armin and Eren.

Even Mikasa had left to get some sleep. Eren stayed here whith Armin who claimed he couldn't sleep. Not after spending three hours in the morgue.

"I don't like this, Armin," Eren broke the silence, gszing across the table at his best friend. "We have no leads whatsoever, the killer could strike again at any moment and all we have is his dental structure."

Armin sighed. He was trying to stay awake as he was affraid of the nightmares he might get from the examination of the bodies. He could still smell the stench of death ftom the morgue.

"True," he spoke, "but we can't just give up. You can't give up, that isn't like you. You promised to protect humanity and that includes protecting it from itself."

"But what can we do? We have nothing."

Eren sighed as he took another look out the window. It was almost midnight and the streets were dark. Monsters could easily lurk around without anyone even noticing.

Eren looked across the table again to find Armin lying his head on it. He had fallen asleep.

Eren stood up and smiled.

...

Shadows covered Vohnburg as the monster hid itself in one of the shadows. It was wearing a trainee raincoat with a hood covering it's face.

'Ah, the calm darkness of the night. It makes me feel alive.'

Several people passed it without noticing it. The beast remained motionless waiting for some ripe prey to come by.

It wouldn't kill those who it considered useful for humanity. Those who exploit their rights as a citizen without fulfilling their duty to their race were the ones who deserved to die.

'The worker was a criminal. Before dawn he would go around the merchant street to steal some goods.'

Another honest worker pased the monster.

'The merchant was buying weapons from the corrupt Military Police to sell them to bandits.'

The street was now empty. everyone had left for home.

'Every attack makes me stronger.'

A trio of Military Policemen passed him. They were drunk even though they were supposed to be on duty.

The beast made it's move, following them.

'Useless slackers.' The beast took a look around to see if there was anyone else on the street. There wasn't. Thd zime was right and the fruit was ripe.

'Sie sind das Essen und ich bin der Jäger!'


	5. Chapter 4: The Fairy Tale

Run! Don't look back!

Armin was running through the dead wastes. Ground as black as night surrounded him, streching out in every direction as far as the eye could see, with some dead trees in the distance. Two bodies were running after him, their blank eyes instilling terror in the young soldier. They were slow, but Armin was having a hard time running as the ground was soft and sticky. As sticky as the situation itself.

Armin saw a hole in front of him. There didn't seem to be any way around and it was too wide to jump across.

'I have to try!' Armin quickened his pace, trying not to think about the two bodies behind him. He leapt.

His eyes widened at the horror below him. The hole was actually a river. But it wasn't water that ran in it. It was blood, flesh and skeletons that filled the channel. There were thousands of skulls floating in the red fluid, all turned towards Armin, as if looking at him.

But this was the least of Armin's worries. As he looked up he noted that the other end of the river was nowhere to be seen. This wasn't a river, it was a lake, no, an ocean of blood. Armin fell, splashing into the blood. He tried to swim, but his body was too heavy. He started to sink.

The bodies got to the shore, their gaze not leaving Armin. The boy recognised them; they were the onses he had examined at the morgue.

In a low, terrifying tone they cried: "Find him!" just as Armin sank completely into the red.

...

Whith a loud scream Armin lifted his head from the table.

He was sitting in the dining room of the inn, the first light of day shining through the window.

'Must have fallen asleep.'

He slowly streched in the chair he was sitting on.

'What a dream. It just felt so ... real!'

He heared someone coming down the stairs. Armin turned around to see Eren sleepily aproaching him.

"Morning!" Eren greeted sitting next to Armin.

"Good morning," Armin answered, a yawn coming out of his mouth.

"Sleep well?" Eren asked, noticing his friend was tired.

"No. This position isn't particularly comfortable. I had a nightmare too."

"Oh ..." Eren said, yawning as well. That's when Armin noticed that his friend looked tired, realy tired.

"It seems you didn't sleep well either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the past few weeks I've been noticing that you always look as if you don't sleep at all, Eren."

Eren sighed. "So you noticed it too. Mikasa told me yesterday that I need to rest more. But whenever I go to sleep I dream about ... that day."

Armin bowed, looking at the floor. He knew very well that the day the Titans broke through Wall Maria had scarred Eren for life.

"I sometimes spend the nights training," Eren continued. "I need to be stronger so that when the time comes, I'll be able to prevent such atrocities from happening again.

Several footsteps could be heared from the stairs. The other trainees had woken up and were now assembling in the dining hall for breakfast.

...

"So you're saying you had that dream too?" Jean asked.

They had just finished breakfast and were talking about what to do when Armin told everybody what he had dreamt about. It turned out they all had the same dream.

"Same here," said Marco. "Sea of blood, drowning, two corpses urging me to 'find him'."

Armin looked at his comrades surprised. He had once read that dreams are merely a reflection of one's subconsciousness. Even for two people to have a same dream would have been very unlikely, but for the whole 104th trainee corps.

That's when he remembered. "Where are Reiner and Bertholdt?" he asked. "Have they returned from guard duty yet?"

As if to answer his question, Reiner stormed through the inn's front door. He was panting heavily, sweat covering his face, as he tried to say something.

Whe he finaly caught his breath he spoked quickly with great urgency in his voice: "We saw him! More dead bodies!"

Armin stood up and walked over to the panting trainee. "Slow down! Take a deep breath. What happened?"

Reiner sat down on a nearby chair, still panting. "Me and Bert were walking down one of the back streets when we heared a scream. We started walking in it's direction when we noticed someone running back at us. I figured he would know something as he was running from the direction wher we heared the scream. As I was about to ask him, though, he ran past me. I told Bert to check the scream while I went after the man. However when I initiated the pursuit, he quickened his pace. It was unbelievable, he was running faster than the wind. And then, to surprize me even more, he leapt onto a house to escape. He was not human, I tell you."

"Oooooh, spooky!"

"Shut up Connie."

Armin ignored Sascha and Connie as he processed what he had just heared. "Where's Bertholdt?"

" When I returned I could see him motionlessly standing in the alley. There were three bodies, Military Policemen. I told him to stay there while I went to get you guys."

Armin turned to face the rest of the trainees. "We're going to the crime scene."

...

Armin wasn't very sure when he had become the leader of the group, but during the investigation it seemed that he was the only one giving orders. Maybe it wss because he had managed to confront Shadis. Or it might have been the fact that he was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing.

Not that he minded it though. It gave him confidence that his comrades trusted and respected him.

However, now that they were unable to prevent another murder, he doubted wether he should speak his mind. He feared that they wouldn't listen to him because he couldn't identify the killer in time.

"Oh my ..."

The victims never stood a chance. If what Reiner said was true, they weren't dealing with an ordinary man, if it even was a man.

"Gross!"

The bodies all had the bite mark now well known to Armin. Whoever this was, he is not intending to stop.

'Damn!' thought Armin as he decided to let his comrades know what he figured. Even if they think it silly, he should at least let them know.

"Guys, I think I know when and where the killer will strike next," he spoke, determined to at least get the trainees' attention.

The trainees all turned to listen to what Armin had to say.

"I remember an old fairy tale similar to what we've seen in the past few days."

Armin was talking about an old story his grandfather would tell him, Eren and Mikasa when they were younger.

"It tells about a beast who would eat children who went outside at night instead of sleeping. It would only leave their shoes. The local children vowed to catch it.

The first murder happened behind the deantist's, right. Well, in the story, the first child is eaten behind the dentis's as well. He wad the worker's son as well. Two weeks later the merchant's son was eaten by the well, just like our merchant. Then there were the soldier's three children, eaten three days later close to the inn."

He paused, waiting for his comrades to say something. When they didn't, he continued: "The next murder will happen tonight at the town's market, somewhere around the farmacist's."

...

Mikasa sighed as she obsereved the market again. As much as she trusted Armin' judgement this still felt a bit childish. Why would someone follow a fairy tale to commit theese murders. He most likely didn't have a lot of imagination.

She looked over to Eren whom she was on guard duty with. As much as Armin's deduction was accepted, the trainees still decided to test this theory first. So here she was, alone with Eren waiting for something to happen.

She was surprised when she saw how agile Eren seemed to be. Whenever they would train, he would be slow. But now, after nightfall, he seemed to be an entirely diferent person. He was fast, faster than even her. She found herself admiring the boy as he climbed a building to scan the surroundings.

The thought quickly passed as she noticed she was starring. 'What are you doing? This is your family, what would he think if he caught me starring.'

She snapped out of her thoughts as the said item of admiration called to her: "Mikasa, I think I saw something there!"

She saw him disappear at the other end of the building he was on as she quickly ran around. If only she was given the 3FMG, this wouldn't have taken so much time.

As she reached the other end of the farmacist's and turned around tge corner she was met with Eren's scared face starring down at the body of the farmacist. They were too late.

_**Le Author's Note Face:**_

**Here it is, the next chapter. Sorry I couldn't update sooner.**

**A slight hint of Mikaere in this. It will come to play in the climax/final battle.**

**I'm not sure when the next chapter will be ready, but don't worry, It's on it's way.**


	6. Chapter 5: Monster hunters

Over the course of the next few days the trainees tried and failed to stop the killer's spree. No matter how well planed their guard duty was he just seemed to overcome their every attempt to bring him to justice.

And, just to annoy the young soldiers even more, the killer seemed to get very close to them curing his every escape now, as if saying 'You can't catch me,' and sometimes even taunt them with laughter or a quick tap on their shoulders.

No matter how skilled the trainees were with the 3DMG they still couldn't catch the criminal. Even Mikasa, who moved as fast as the wind, would quickly loose sight of him. And that made her angry. She would never show it, but it realy frustrated her to see that she was powerless against him. He wasn't even wearing a 3DMG and still moved faster than a galloping horse.

Due to their inability to catch this mysterious man the trainees felt disappointed in themselves. How could they think they were ready to fight the Titans if they couldn't even stop a man. No matter how fast or strong he might have been, they were still supposed to be soldiers. Soldiers that overcome monsters. And to make matters worse, the killer had started to have the habit to mock their failure, shooving his victory right in the face of the soldiers who were chosen for night-guard duty.

The Military Police weren't much help either. Whenever the trainees would ask for help they'd just say that they have better things to do. With some of their members being killed they started to move their regional HQ out of town.

So it soon came to them almost admitting defeat. But this night, three weeks after the first murder, they would finaly get a lead to their killer.

...

A cold breeze blew through the main street as Mikasa observed the figure in the docks. She was lying low behind a crate, holding her blades in a ready position, prepared to pounce at her target at any time. He didn't seem to notice her. If he turned out to be the killer she would tear him appart without hesitation. But she had to wait, she had to be sure that this wasn't just another innocent late-night worker or a drunk trying to find his way home.

She had been observing him for quite some time now. Since the next murder was sure to happen here, in the docks, anyone seen in the area could have been the killer. Or the victim, for that matter.

"Do you think that's him?" asked a voice behind her.

Thet was Annie. She was on guard duty tonight too.

"He could be, but we have to be sure," Mikasa answered not taking her eyes off the target. They didn't want him to escape again after all.

Annie's grip on her swords tightened as she lowered herself behind cover. She was as frustrated as everyone else at her inability to cpture the murderer. Such people make life miserable to those who can't protect themselves. This monster has to be stopped!

They saw another figure, disembarking from a ship and holding a lantern as he approached the man waiting in the docks. They were not very close but the soldiers could still hear what they were saying.

"What are you doing here this late at night?" asked the boatman, now standing right in front of the mysterious man in an army coat. "Who are you?"

The figure in the army coat remained silet for a moment, but then he grabbed the boatman's right wrist, causing him to drop the lantern which crashed to the ground, spilling the oil around and setting the floor around them on fire.

"I'm sorry," the mysterious man finaly replied.

"For what?"

"For this." Before the boatman could react the man holding his right arm pulled him down and burried his teeth in his neck. A scream of agony filled the docks as the victim started to turn from lively red (he was probably enjoying his evening with a bottle of alcohol) to white as snow. The killer was drinking his blood.

Annie and Mikasa had seen enough. They sprang out of cover and launched themselves at the target. But just as They were about to swing their blades at him, chopping his head off, he dodged, causing them to hit the victim instead.

As they pilled their blades backe they faced the killer again. He was starring at them motionless, a hood hiding his face. They could see a grin forming on his uncovered bloodied mouth. He raised his left hand to them, waving with his index finger for them to approach him.

Mikasa took the first swing, slashing at him with both her blades at speeds unmatched by almost nothing. Almost. The killer dodged her attack with ease and kicked her blades out of her hands.

To prevent him from attacking now unarmed Mikasa Annie leapt in the air trying to land a quick kick at the killer. He wasn't paying attention to her, it should have worked. It didn't.

As soon as she was in range he grabbed her extended right leg and, using her momentum and his unnatural strenght, threw her twenty meters in the othe dirrection.

Mikasa had already reached her blades by then and was ready to strike again. However, as she faced her opponent she noticed that he was preparing to run away and slip through their grasps yet again.

He leapt onto the closest building with his signature unnatural speed. Mikasa followed him with her 3DMG. She started gaining on him, but she knew he was just slowing down to give her the false impression of victory. Just as she was right behind him he, as expected, sped up again, taking a tight turn down into a dark alley. He kept running through the shadows, Mikasa swinging behind him. She was loosing him. Correction: she had lost him. It was too dark and he was just too fast, even for her.

Just as she was about to head back to check on Annie she noticed an old woman watching her. She was wearing ragged clothes and was supporting her old frail body on a walking stick. Several cats surounded her as she absently hummed a depressed melody.

Mikasa recognised as the old lady she had seen several times snooping around the scenes of the murders. Was she following them? Did she know something?

What was it that she had said when Mikasa first saw her? 'Not human ...' What did she mean.

"You'll never catch him like that." the old lady spoke quietly. The gift of speech was already leaving her, her voice sounded painful. "He's too fast."

"What is he? What am I supposed to do?"

The old lady raised her her gaze from the ground, revealing a face full of scarrs. Her eyeholes were empty and her bottom lip was torn appart revealing the little of the yellow and black teeth she had in her mouth.

"Follow me ..."

...

Mikasa followed the mysterious old lady to the outskirts of town. Her mind was still occupied by the disturbing sight of the woman's face. What had happened to her? Who was she? And why does she claim to have useful information about the murderer?

These questions were soon to be answered as they arrived to their destination: an old half crumbeled house. Well, it was more of a hut realy. It was covered in vines and it's roof was, well, nonexistent. It had no windows and instead had several holes in it's walls The old lady went through the door frame (the actual door was nowhere to be found), gesturing for Mikasa to enter.

The interior was, not something you would expect after seeing the building's exterior, quite homey. It was well lit with several oil lamps, there was a hearth at the far end of the room and, although there were several holes in the walls and ceiling, it was quite warm. An old but comfortable-looking bed occupied the right corner at the end of the room. In the middle of the room there was a table filled with a great variety of herbs. Mikasa, who had spent nine years of her life living in the middle of the woods, recognised that the herbs had very different uses, from healing to killing.

The old woman motioned for Mikasa to sit on a chair beside the table.

Just as Mikasa was about to ask the questions she wanted answers for, her host spoke:

"You aren't dealing with an ordinary man, young lady. That thing is a killing machine and your methods are only going to get you and your friends killed."

They stayed silent for a while before Mikasa finaly asked: "Who are you?"

The old lady walked over to the fireplace.

"I'm a monster hunter. We are ... were a group of men and women who decided to hunt and kill any creature who was a threat to humanity."

She sighed deeply. "That was in the times before the Titans came. We would work in secret and attack anything we found as a threat."

Mikasa remembered her mother telling her stories of such a group. They were able wariors fighting in the shadows, behind the backs of humanity.

"Is this why you are here? The man we're hunting is a monster? What is he?" she asked.

"I may know what he is. The origins of his kind date back centuries before the Titans. One day a group of hunters came upon a settlement of strange-looking people. They were pale and their canines were twice the size of the ones of a human. They were also far more agile and stronger than a human. However, sunlight seemed to weaken them."

She turned to Mikasa again. "They lived alone and in peace. But we found them to be a threat. They fed on blood and their strenght was a danger to humanity. We marked them as the undead and called them vampires."

"Even though they never meant to hurt anyone we attacked them."

She sat down.

"What we didn't expect was them being able to turn other people into their kind. They quickly spread and when their numbers were great enough they came from hiding and started appearing all over the world. A whole branch was dedicated to hunting them. They were cursed so that as long as there's one vampire left in the world at least one hunter would live."

"In the age of the walls everything was going well. We belived to have killed the last vampire and would be left to live and die in peace. We were wrong. There is one vampire left. And I, as the last hunter, am unable to fight him."

"Young soldier, would you be able to complete my task and slay the last vampire?"

Mikasa stared at the old woman. Was she just trusting her with this delicate task? Was she able enough for this? But there was no question: whether she could or not, she had to do this.

"Alright," she replied, "what do I do."

"To kill him you'll need to stab him through the heart with this." She pulled a wooden steak from under the table. "Also, I suggest you find him during the day: he won't be as quick in the sun. He'll also be weakend in a place of worship: the fear of the deligious fanatics, who hunted them believing them hell-spawn, is still flowing through their veins."

They both stood up. "Thank you," Mikasa said. But just as she was about to leave the old lady grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"Have you been having nightmares recently?"

Mikasa turned around to look at her. "Yes. Why?"

"It is just as I feared. The vampire is one of you soldiers. Nightmares will appear if one who is close, both physically and mentally, is a vampire."

Mikasa was shocked. One of them was the killer?

"It is very dangerous if one of your friends is a vampire," the old lady continued. "They will use their relationship with you against you. Oh, i pray that it isn't even worse, a lover. Those will try to get you to join them. If that is the case, don't listen to them, no matter what they mean to you. You need to get this job done."

With that Mikasa slowly left the house and madd her waback to the inn.

...

Armin was in the instructor's office. After what Mikasa had told him this morning he rushed here as soon as possible. He had figured out who the killer is.

"Yes trainee Arlelt, what is it?"

"Sir, I believe I know who the killer is."

"Well, out with it!"

Armin took a deep breath before he continued.

"He is one of the trainees. Hi name is ..."

**And here we go. This took quite a while (damn you, school).**

**We are comming to a conclusion. I'd like to wrap this up as soon as possible, because I have many new ideas for future fanfictions.**

**See you next time!**


	7. Chapter 6: Hunting a Monster

"Are you sure about this, trainee Arlert?"

"Yes, sir. He is most likely a vampire. I've noticed that he acts very sleepy during the day while at night he is auite energetic. I've also seen him slipping out at night several times only to find another victim the next morning. As much as I wish it wasn't true I can't overlook the facts. He's the one we're looking for."

Shadis got up from his chair and turned his back to Armin to look out of the window. "So, how do we catch him?" he asked after a while.

Armin smiled. "I think I have a plan.

...

Sunlight woke Eren from his peaceful slumber. Of course. He had to be the one to get the bed that sees the sun first in the motning. He yawned as he rubed his eyes, slowly siting up. That's when he noticed that the other beds were already empty. The others had already woken up and were eating breakfast.

With a quiet groan he got out of bed, dressed up and took off to the dining room. He skiped two stepps at time as he decended to the ground floor, hoping he hadn't missed the meal. He sighed in releaf as he noticed his friends had just started eating.

"Eren, you're finaly awake!"

Eren sat next to Armin and looked at his breakfast; bread and butter.

"So, how come you're all up this early?" he asked, not noticing that all eyes were on him.

"We found a way to catch the killer. But first, let's eat." Armin answered with a small sound of sadness in his voice.

...

Eren arrived at the Wallist church. This is the place where they would catch the killer, being a place where religious gathered. A church was also the place where the monster would last strike.

He entered the building and the first thing he noticed was that the windows were placed just right for sunlight to illuminate the room in the late afternoon, the time they would act. Just like in the story.

Eren looked around for any unfortunate soul that hadn't been warned of monster-hunting taking place this day. Since there wasn't any he smiled and rubbed his hands together. He had time until lunch and he had quite some work to do.

...

Jean looked oround the church, proud of his work. He had finaly finished the preperations for the day's mission. And just in time; it was almost five pm, which meant the others would arive soon.

'This is it,' he thought. 'Today we finish this. Today that bastard faces justice.'

The gates opened and his comrades entered the church, grim looks on their faces. One of them was the killer. One of them was a monster. They slowly moved to the altar upon which lay a few lit candles in the middle of the church. This ends here and now.

"So, here we all are," stated Armin, gettin the attention of his comrades. "Are we all ready?"

The young soldiers noded, remembering the plans they had discussed before breakfast that day. No turning back now. Time to go to work.

Reiner grabbed Eren's wrists and twisted the smaller kid's arms behind his back. Eren, a bit surprised by the action, quickly reacted, throwing Reiner over his shoulder into a wall ten meters away. The other trainees saw this and quicklyy pinned Eren to the ground.

"So, it _was _you all along."

Eren threw a grim smile to his childhood friend. "Yes it was. Well done, Armin. I didn't expect anything less from you." He shifted under the weight of his comrades, but was unable to do anything.

Armin moved closer, tears gathering in his eyes. "Eren, why?"

"Why? So that we can one day liberate humanity from theese walls. I need blood, it makes me stronger. Don't you see? With this power we can win this war."

Armin shook his head in disagreement. "No, Eren. Killing people isn't the way to liberate them." He took a step back. "I'm sorry. This is where it ends." He turned to Mikasa. "Do it."

Eren tried to get out of his comrades' hold as Mikasa walked over to him with a pole in her hand. Though she held an emotionless face everyone knew that inide she was screaming in pain. She of all people had to kill Eren. Her only family.

Eren looked at her with pleading eyes. "Mikasa, don't do this! Do you not remember all the time we spent together. I'm your family, maybe even more."

Mikasa stopped, causing Eren to smile. "Come on, with this we can leave the walls and be together forever."

Mikasa dropped the pole. What was she doing. Wasn't this what she had always wanted? Being with Eren?

Eren felt the pressure on him lighten as his comrades lost concentration, trying to process his words. He used the confusion and freed himself of the soldiers' grip, leaping to the corner of the church and grabbing a rope the others hadn't noticed earlier.

"Lights out," he silently said as he pulled the rope, coering the windows with curtains he had placed that morning, knowing full well he now had no other way out but to kill his comrades. Darkness fell on the church and the only lihht was comming from the half-burnt candles in the middle.

...

_"He will most undoubtedly find a way to block sunlight out of the church."_

_"So what do we do?"_

_"First of all, we need to take care that his movement is limited. Also we'll want to keep track of his location in the dark."_

Ringing was heard around them as Eren, moving around the darkness gently tripped over one of the set ropes upon which several bells were hung. They would know which way he'd be comming from. However, he was too fast. It wasn't long before several trainees were pulled into the darkness, their screams informing the remaining of their terrible fate.

_"However, I believe that he would still be too fast for us, so that won't be enough."_

_"How about we use something he might be vulnerable to."_

Eren laughed. "Garlic? Realy Armin? I'm offended."

More trainees were pulled into the darkness, leaving only Armin an Mikasa.

Mikasa was mentaly scolding herself for hesitating. Eren had used her feelings for him against her and for that everyone died. Well, she can't say she hadn't been warned.

"My offer still stands. We can go out there, visit the ocean and live for an eternity."

Armin yelled: "Never! This is not the way to do it!"

Mikasa was still in her thoughts, so she didn't notice that Armin was no longer in the light of the candles.

"How about you, Mikasa? Do you want to spend an eternity with me?"

Mikasa lifted her gaze to see the silhouette of Eren in the darkness, a sword in his hand. No, this wasn't Eren. In that moment Mikasa knew what she had to do. She grabbed the pole lying on the groundt with her right hand and unsheathed one of her swords.

"I guess that's a no then."

_"Should all else fail we need to have a way to uncover the windows to let the light in. Jean, I hope you know what to do."_

Mikasa dodged Eren's attack and ran towards the door. She cut the rope holding the curtains and light returned to the church. Jean had placed it there, taking care that it was the only thing holding them.

Mikasa turned around to face Eren, who had fallen to the floor as light suddenly hit him. Ignoring the bodies of her comrades laid tidily against the walls of the church she charged at him

Noticing her approaching he stood up but he was too late. He could only lift his sword as Mikasa stabbed him through the heart with the pole.

She had done it, but it came at a price. Her chest was pierced by Eren's blade. As they both bled there, Mikasa spoke with her last breath: "I promised I'd protect you. But I failed to protect you from your greatest enemy: yourself."


End file.
